Young-hoon's Share Acquisition and the Start of a Scheme
Young-hoon had far too much to do today.
First, to meet his own quota, he would have to call on the dealership owners, explain his situation, and persuade them to raise his purchase targets. Since he wasn't quitting the company just yet, it was only right that he handle the work assigned to him.
As for matters outside of work, there were the documents needed to acquire the shares of Girin Entertainment — the seal certificate, his resident registration abstract, and so on — along with signing the actual share transfer papers. If he wanted all of it done by the end of the day, he would need to move fast.
Besides, if he hung around the office, that insufferable Assistant Manager Hong would no doubt find some way to chew him out, so he slipped out under the pretext of fieldwork.
Young-hoon headed first to Seoul Distribution, the largest of the dealerships under his management. He intended to explain his circumstances to the owner and ask him to bump up his purchases a little.
But before he could even broach the subject, the atmosphere at the dealership was already sour.
Sure enough, grumbling began to spill from President Jung of Seoul Distribution.
"Assistant Manager Kim, somebody dumped phones into the electronics market a few days ago, and the mood out there is anything but good. Prices have dropped and everyone's hurting. Word has it the dumping was done by a dealership from Marketing Team 3… Surely it's not one of your dealerships, Assistant Manager Kim? Then again, I suppose there isn't a dealership out there reckless enough to dump."
Young-hoon flinched inwardly at President Jung's words, which sounded as though he knew everything already, but he forced himself not to show it.
"As you know, Assistant Manager Kim, I've been doing business in this trade for over thirty years. You may think a dealership that dumps can hide it forever, but sooner or later it all comes to light. So don't you ever get seduced by hitting a sales target and cook up something illegal with a dealership. Well — you being a soft country boy from Gangwon, I know full well you don't have the gall for anything that big."
With President Jung cutting so bluntly to the point, Young-hoon hardly knew what to do with himself. Asking for more purchases on top of a litany of complaints felt utterly shameless.
But at that very moment, President Jung broke into a broad grin.
"So here's the thing — I won't be buying any more phones this month. The Winter Olympics are coming early next year anyway, so we'll focus our buying on TVs. How does that sound?"
"Uh… Sir, how did you—"
"Guess right, win the prize. I told you, didn't I? I'm an old-timer in this business. One look at your face and I knew exactly what you'd come to say. Anyway, from November through the end of the year, no more purchase pressure for you, right? Not that I'm complaining — anything I hold in stock I can sell off by year's end. By the way, Assistant Manager Kim, don't you have other dealerships to visit? You must be busy. Off you go."
Young-hoon drew tremendous strength from President Jung's help. It felt as though his years of honest work had finally been acknowledged, and his heart swelled unexpectedly.
President Kim of Namseoul Distribution, the second-largest dealership under his charge, apparently received a heads-up call from President Jung beforehand as well, because he readily granted the request too.
Young-hoon managed ten dealerships in total, and aside from those two, the remaining eight were small retail shops that couldn't do much for his sales figures on their own. But pooled together, they just might get him to his target of 1.2 billion won.
Going around visiting dealership owners ate up the time, and before he knew it, the lunch hour had come and gone. Remembering his 2 p.m. appointment with President Lee Jae-man, Young-hoon dashed to the nearby district office, obtained his seal certificate and resident registration abstract, and hurried off to Seongnam. He skipped lunch in all the rushing, but thanks to that, he arrived right on time for his appointment.
When he stepped into the office, a man who appeared to be a legal adviser was already waiting. After a brief exchange of greetings with President Lee Jae-man, they got straight down to drafting the contract. Once the legal adviser had guided them through every procedure for the share acquisition, Young-hoon finally felt he could breathe.
After a short rest, Young-hoon called for Hye-in.
"Hye-in, sorry to pull you away when you're busy practicing. You heard, right? I have to finish one more new song by this weekend. I lay around at home yesterday mulling it over, so I need you to organize it for me. The title is Returned Love. The lyrics and composition are right here. All you have to do is arrange it."
"Booo~ Oppa, we're recording After Farewell on Thursday — when am I supposed to do an arrangement? Can't you do it?"
"Hey, if I had the ability to do that, would I be asking you? Don't talk nonsense. We have to get the vocals recorded by mid-November at the latest, so get the arranged version over to Producer Yoo Sung-hoon as soon as you can. He'll need time to build the MR too. Besides, you should know this is the slowest stretch we'll ever get. Once A Loving Heart drops and we're on the radio on November 10th, there'll be no resting even if we want to."
But Hye-in still wore a sulky pout and kept needling him.
"Tch. Oppa, you think words alone get everything done? Asking with that bare face of yours?"
"Hey, do you have any idea how much creative agony I've been through? This is already the third one. If we're going to be together for life, I'll have to do it dozens more times, and I'm already scared out of my wits. Maybe I should just stop writing songs for you altogether?"
Watching the two of them bicker back and forth, Jae-man mused, with a warm feeling, that handing over his shares had truly been the right call. Then something occurred to him, and he asked Young-hoon:
"By the way, Young-hoon — will the songwriting and composition credits go under your real name? Or do you have a stage name in mind?"
"Oh! I never even thought of that. Sir, do you have anything good?"
"No, Oppa. Let's call the girls and hear what they think."
"Sure, why not. It'll double as a little break. Call Kyeong-hwan in too."
Before long, the office was as rowdy as a marketplace. Every member, determined to coin Young-hoon's stage name, blurted out whatever came to mind.
"Oppa, our company is Girin Entertainment, so how about Giraffe Face?"
"Your hometown is Gangwon Province, dear brother. Potato would suit you. Feels homey, too."
"No way! Your face is huge, so it absolutely has to be Great Stone Face!"
It was complete pandemonium. Worse, nothing among the suggestions was even remotely cool — they were all names that landed somewhere between a jab and an outright insult, which made it all the more dispiriting.
He would have liked more time to think it over, but alas, there was no room for that, so he resolved to pick one from the suggestions already on the table.
"…Fine. My face is big… Great Stone Face it is. From this moment on, my stage name is Great Stone Face. Sir, when you register the digital single tomorrow, please use Great Stone Face."
"Shall we, then? Well, even to my eye, Great Stone Face seems the safest and best of the lot. Everyone agree we'll go with it?"
Clunk.
Young-hoon shot a resentful glare at each of them in turn, betrayed to his very bones, then spoke on with the resignation of a man accepting his fate.
"And Sir, tomorrow is the day we sign the OST contract with Sinabro Production, right? I don't see any need for me to be there, so please handle the signing well. When you meet PD Hye-yoon tomorrow, tell her the title of the third OST track is Returned Love. It's month-end close, and the day job has me run off my feet."
Hearing this, Hye-in cut in, unable to resist sticking her nose in.
"That's what I keep saying — just quit the company already. I told you I'd take responsibility for you, didn't I?"
"No. I should learn everything I can before I leave. That's the only way I'll be of any help, however small, in building Girin Entertainment into a world-class company. Anyway, I need to get back to the office now. If there's nothing else for me, I'll be off. Please take good care of the OST contract tomorrow, and handle the copyright registration and the digital single filing too. Oh — Sir, have you by any chance spoken with PD Lee Hyo-young on the phone?"
"Yes. We had a quick call this morning, but he just thanked me and hung up. Sounds like he's buried in work."
"He must be preparing for the pre-production announcement. There'll be plenty to get ready in advance. I really do need to head back to the office now. On my way, I'll give PD Lee Hyo-young a call. Phone me once the contract is signed tomorrow — if you have time, let's have dinner together."
[Hello? Ah, Young-hoon. Did you get home safely Saturday night?]
"Yes, PD-nim. I should have called you much sooner… I only dared to now because I worried I might be disturbing your rest. I heard from President Lee Jae-man that you covered the bar tab as well. It must have been quite a bill?"
[Don't be ridiculous. That much is well within my means — if you ever feel like a drink, call me anytime. My phone is open for you twenty-four hours a day. And before long, I'll be the one begging drinks off you. You're bound to be sitting on a money cushion soon enough.]
"Ha, kind words are more than thanks enough. By the way — would it be all right if I called PD Jang Won-seok?"
[Well, there's no harm in it, but don't call him just yet. Wait until A Loving Heart goes out on the radio, then treat him to a meal or something. I'll give PD Jang a heads-up myself.]
"Thank you. I'm truly grateful for how thoroughly you look after everything."
For some reason, today Young-hoon felt as though everyone who knew him was reaching out to help of their own accord. He'd even gotten a stage name for free.
Meanwhile, at the very moment Young-hoon was returning to the office, Deputy General Manager Cho was heading toward Managing Director Kim Byung-hwan's office with approval documents in hand.
When he arrived, Secretary Choi Ji-yeon was waiting for him.
"Welcome. The Managing Director is expecting you. Please wait just a moment."
Before long, permission was granted, and Cho opened the door and stepped into the office.
"Good afternoon, sir."
"Ah, yes. Come in, Cho. I hear you have something to report?"
"Yes, sir. The phone dumping you ordered a few days ago has been handled quietly and cleanly."
"Good, well done. Which dealership did you funnel it through to dump into the electronics market?"
"We handled it through President Jung Kyung-il of Kyungin Distribution. President Jung knows how to keep his mouth shut, so there'll be no loose talk."
"Is that so? Then that's a relief. There'll be no impact on market prices, I trust? And have I ever met this President Jung?"
"Even if he scooped the Han River dry, he'd leave no ripple behind. You have nothing to worry about, sir. President Jung only stops by to exchange greetings at company events and meetings — you've never formally met him. Which brings me to my point: I've arranged dinner with him tonight, partly so you can put a face to the name."
Managing Director Kim smiled with evident satisfaction at Cho's handling of the matter and took a sip of his coffee.
"Good, understood. Now — what are those papers in your hand?"
"When we dumped into the market a few days ago, President Jung took a bit of a loss. To make up for it, I've submitted a supply approval for him. It should already be sitting in your e-approval inbox. I printed out the requisition form so it would be easy on your eyes, sir."
"Is that so? Hand it here."
Managing Director Kim took the documents from Cho and made as if to read them carefully, but his head soon began to ache, and he asked outright:
"It's a rigged game of go-stop anyway, isn't it? Just walk me through the essentials, Cho."
"Yes, sir. They're the latest model phones, 1,500 units. Discount rate of 29.9 percent, supply price of 900 million won after the discount."
"Good, well done. So you do understand that anything over 1 billion won, or a discount over 30 percent, falls outside my approval authority and goes straight up to Senior Managing Director Choi? That man is so rigid that one misstep and it'd get bounced right back. Understood. I'll approve it right now — give me a moment."
Managing Director Kim returned to his desk and signed off on the e-approval without reading a single line of the contents. Then he settled back onto the sofa and asked, his expression thick with innuendo:
"Cho, I can look forward to tonight, can't I?"